Over the Top
by DarkAngelSnapeLover
Summary: When Muffy overhears Arthur talking about an anniversary party for his parents, she immediately takes over the planning process. Arthur has no choice but the accept her help, but he's worried that she'll create an over the top party that his parents will hate. Will she ruin their big day or will she prove Arthur wrong? One-shot.


**Over the Top**

Arthur was a little skeptical of having Muffy plan a party for him. It was his parents' anniversary, and he wanted to do something big, as did DW, but Arthur didn't know if he wanted Muffy-big. She was a girl for one, and that made him expect loads and loads of pink flowers and other decorations, plus mounds of glitter and other messy party supplies. Then the richness came into play, and he wondered if his parents would be mad at Arthur for getting Muffy to spend outrageous amounts of money.

Either way, Muffy had overheard him attempting to plan the party with Francine's and Buster's help, and now the date was set. His parents would go away for a Saturday outing in the Crosswire limo, and when they returned, they would be greeted by a party fit for a king...or two kings...or the whole kingdom.

Arthur flushed with nervousness. He couldn't let her turn his house into a spectacle for the tabloids, a celebrity-filled extravaganza, complete with the glitter and luxurious extravagance Arthur knew his parents would hate.

The doorbell rang. Bailey was there for his parents, and soon they were out the door, the babysitter's hands filled with a sheet of emergency numbers and a half-empty bottle for the screaming Kate. Muffy would be there any minute with her party things.

Arthur had to stop her. The Muffy Crosswire way was too much. He couldn't have glitter piling up between the floorboards or pink decorations cluttering the house and he couldn't have golden goose eggs or whatever else the rich ate at anniversary parties. He just wanted something simple, not over the top.

The doorbell rang again, and suddenly ten party planners were taking Muffy's directions. Arthur tried getting her attention. He had to stop her before it was too late. But she couldn't hear him. In fact, she wanted him out too, plus the girls and the babysitter. She'd pay off the babysitter to break Mr. and Mrs. Read's rules. She just needed them all out.

"But Muffy, it's too much! You can't go over the top! MUFFY!" Arthur cried, trying to fight the party planner-slash-bodyguard throwing him onto his front stoop. "Great!" Arthur huffed. "What am I supposed to do? She might destroy the house! She might turn it into glitter mountain or something!"

"I can live with that," DW smiled, her eyes shimmering with daydreams of a house made entirely out of glitter.

"Arthur, the place will be fine," the babysitter said, leading them all towards the park.

Arthur had to obey, but his spirits sank. His life as he knew it was over. Muffy was going to turn his house into a party-goers wonderland and it was all his fault. His parents would be so angry that they'd toss him onto the street, and they'd convince Grandma Thora and Grandpa Dave to leave him out in the cold, harsh world. He'd have to join the circus as a four-eyed aardvark to make money to live off of. He'd go for years wearing the same clothes, then he could call himself the amazing giant boy, his tiny clothes stretching and cracking to make him look ten times bigger than he actually was.

His daydreams and growing sickness came to a peek at four o'clock when Muffy's call came through the babysitter's cell phone. It was time for the guests to enter the party. Clothes for all of them were ready and waiting in the garage, and the four of them dressed using the doors of the family car for cover.

Once they were done, they convened on the front yard along with what felt like half of Elwood City. Arthur's classmates were there with their parents, dressed in their best clothes. Mr. Ratburn and Mr. Haney were wearing fancier suits than usual, and even Grandma Thora and Grandpa Dave looked better than usual, their faces plastered with pride that Arthur and his friend would arrange such a formal event.

"Line up everyone!" Muffy called from the front door, emerging with the bodyguard party planners, who rolled a red carpet up the front walk. "Here are some cameras. I want you to take as many pictures as possible of the lovely couple!" Muffy called over the crowd's murmurs, passing out a basket of expensive digital cameras. "I want the memory cards when you're done, but Daddy says you can keep the cameras."

'Great,' Arthur thought, 'she's giving out expensive party favors. Mom and Dad are going to be furious when they find out. Oh man, it's a Kannen too! Dad's wanted one of these for his catering business for years!'

Arthur grew more and more nervous as the crowd noise lowered to a low murmur, aside from Vicita Molina, who cried out when she accidentally took a picture of herself, blinding her momentarily and causing her to cry out in pain. Alberto comforted her as the limo came into view.

"Introducing Mr. and Mrs. David Read," Bailey said before opening the door. As soon as it opened, David stepped out first, then Jane. Flashes filled the air as everyone took pictures, causing both to gasp in amazement.

"Oh my, David, look at all this!" Jane exclaimed, laughing as the flashes made her eyes water.

"Arthur, aren't you going to take any pictures?" the babysitter asked.

'No, I'm too sick,' he wanted to say, but instead he took a few of the sky just to make her happy.

Arthur's parents went into the house first, then the others followed. Arthur ended up at the back of the line with Kate, who was playing with a caterpillar on the ground and hated the fact of letting the squirming beast go free. She was still crying out as he carried her inside.

Arthur was amazed at what he saw. The house was decorated in an old Hollywood glam style, complete with a few crystal chandeliers instead of the old overhead lights. String lights were put around the island in the kitchen, and fancy-looking Hors d'oeuvres covered crystal-looking platters. Arthur was nervous that there'd be crazy rich people food on the fancy platters, but when he made his way to the dishes, he saw items he recognized, and when he touched the platter to get a small mozzarella stick, he realized the platter was actually glass-looking plastic.

"So, Arthur, do you like what I did?" Muffy asked coolly from behind him.

"I...I thought you'd go over the top. This looks perfect!" Arthur exclaimed, his eyes finding his parents in the crowd. Both were on the living room couch, which was covered with a glamorous red fabric.

"The cameras were rather expensive, but Daddy wanted to do something nice with the pictures, and he thought you and your sisters could help make more memories later. It was an investment of sorts. The rest of this was pretty cheap. That's a chandelier from my bathroom, and those rope lights were on my vanity. Mom found those platters at a community center outing, and those couch and chair covers are my grandmother's. Only the food cost more than a few dollars, but it was all for the right cause," Muffy smiled. "I'm sorry if you were worried, but I pushed you away because I knew you'd be happy in the end, just like they are."

"You're right. I'm sorry I doubted you," Arthur smiled, taking a bite of his food. "This is the best party ever. Thanks for everything."

"No problem. Now, it's time to get some of those pictures together," she grinned.

As the party goers mingled inside, Muffy and the planners set up a projector and chairs outside. Once the photos were compiled, they added them to older photos gathered from the Read household. Just after dark, everyone was asked to move outside to view the slideshow. Arthur's parents, along with everyone else, thought it was the most romantic show ever, and they clapped when it concluded.

The party disbursed then, leaving Arthur and his family alone with Muffy. They thanked her for everything and promised to stay out of the way while everything was cleared up. The family then moved inside to settle in for the night.

Arthur carried Kate to bed and helped DW brush her teeth so his parents could be alone. He was content with the day, and he was glad for Muffy's help. He trusted her a little more now, and he was glad his house didn't turn into a glitter palace. He went to bed and had good dreams, and life was good.

Theme 008: Over the Top

To complete the themes yourself, I have the list posted on my profile. The list is for any type of fan fiction (one-shot, drabble, etc.) and any fandom. Challenge yourself in other ways to make it more fun, and enjoy!


End file.
